High cholesterol costs Australia $4 billion

News / 2018.11.28

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High cholesterol placed an estimated $4 billion burden on the Australian economy in 2017-18, with more than one in three adult Australians, or 7.1 million people, estimated to be living with high cholesterol, according to a new Heart Foundation report.

Most of this cost is due to heart disease and ischaemic stroke, for which high cholesterol is a key risk factor. In fact, in Australia more than half of the $7.3 billion cost of heart disease, and twelve per cent of the $1.3 billion cost of ischaemic stroke, can be attributed to high cholesterol.

High cholesterol also places a burden on individuals. In 2017-18 it was estimated that Australians spent close to $100 million out-of-pocket on lipid lowering medications.

Heart Foundation Group CEO, Adjunct Professor John Kelly AM, said: “Despite these figures, the lack of symptoms associated with high cholesterol mean that most Australians with the condition are not receiving the recommended treatment.

“This puts them at a greater risk of heart attack and stroke, and of developing life-threatening diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Thousands of heart attacks and strokes could be averted if people aged 45-74 visited their GP for a heart health check and those with high cholesterol were properly treated and managed.”

The Heart Foundation recommends establishing a national target for heart health checks, with the aim of having 90 per cent or more of the eligible population assessed for cardiovascular risk within five years.